Melissa McCarthy on Women Who Say They're Not Feminists: 'That Sounds So Dumb'

Melissa McCarthy shows off her slimmed down figure on the cover of Redbook magazine’s April 2016 issue, on newsstands March 15.

Here’s what the 45-year-old actress had to share with the mag:

On people who say they’re not feminists: “I always think, ‘Oh, that sounds so dumb.’ And I don’t mean that in a hateful way. It just sounds so ill-informed. Do you think women should be paid less? You don’t believe in equality for women? I think people have worked hard to put a negative spin on the word.”

On judging other women: “With women, there’s this constant weird cultural thing where we’re always supposed to be comparing ourselves with one another. Who wore it best? Whose butt’s better? Instead, how about if everyone wins? How intensely boring would it be if we were all the same?”

On talking to her daughters about body image: “Give me your best punch in the face, and I’ll take that punch, rather than have my kid feel bad about herself….There’s an epidemic in our country of girls and women feeling bad about themselves based on what .5% of the human race looks like. It starts very young. My message is that as long as everybody’s healthy, enjoy and embrace whatever body type you have.”

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smooshy

no dumber than people like Kimbocile Kartrashian and her ilk proclaiming to be feminists because they post naked pictures of themselves.

Makis

This is very cliche. They all say the same stuff, repetitive and boring.

Ash

Oh Melissa, you speak out of your a*s again. We don’t want to be associated with feminism not because we are ill-informed but because we are well-informed of the movement. We know it has become so irrelevant and full of hatred that only entitled professional victims would embrace this sick cult as a virtue.

Makis

People use the word feminism the wrong way. Most of the time.

Sebek

Well, you are actually ill-informed :) What has become irrelevant and full of hatred is what those women out there are doing with their vulgar protests and weird slogans, but they’re not feminists, read the definition and you will know. So yes, you are ill-informed if you associate them with feminism and judge the whole movement bc of them, it’s an absurd tbh

http://www.irenabursova.cz/ irena.bursova

Haha, you’re exactly the kind of person whe is talking about. Ill-informed, and having no idea what feminism is about, really.

http://www.irenabursova.cz/ irena.bursova

Those are some awesome and powerfull ideas, I had no idea she was this smart. Cool, we need more famous people speaking like this.

Man I actually liked her now this drivle. No one worked hard to demonize “feminist.” The last few days in regards to Kim shows exactly what is wrong with feminism TODAY. Its over used and really its the same topics for decades. We get it woman have a V and boobs but is there anything else?

Juan Cocco

DELETE IT FAT

Juan Cocco

DELETE IT FAT

today

Borrrrinnnng, same character all the time, selling fake feminism. yawn

today

Borrrrinnnng, same character all the time, selling fake feminism. yawn

today

Borrrrinnnng, same character all the time, selling fake feminism. yawn

Ash

Actions of feminists speak louder than the definition of that word in the dictionary. They are feminists and you are in denial.

Ash

Trust me, I know exactly what feminism is all about but I also know what it has become which is something I really doubt you do. You have to be emotionally void and principally vague to embrace this cult as a movement for empowerment.

http://www.irenabursova.cz/ irena.bursova

Yeah, I can’t really trust you a) since I don’t know you and b) by the way you express yourself. I understand that there are some (and not many) people who have taken some of the feminist ideas too far, but in vast majority of cases feminism is still very much needed and people who say it isn’s either really don’t know or don’t want to see the issues or they are ok with inequality.

Sebek

Are you trolling or….? If the word ‘feminism’ means to just believe in being equal, and there are women out there who are taking it to another level, saying they are better than man, than how can they be feminists? ….. think about it, bc you clearly haven’t yet. Let’s say I give you a dog and say it’s a cat. What then? You don’t care about the definition here as well? So what the definition says that cat is something else, right? I told you it’s a cat and you believe it, no? Just like you believe those women are feminists, even though the dictionary says something else. I hope you see how stupid of you it would be to believe in something despite what the definition says, only an ill-informed person would say it’s a cat, only an ill-informed person would say so-called feminists are feminists. If you want to fight someone, fight those imposters, find the definition for them and fight them, but don’t fight feminists based on imposters, it’s stupid of you

Sebek

“feminism… what it has become” it didn’t change, it didn’t become anything else. The word and it’s meaning in the dictionary didn’t change, so what you are fighting here is NOT feminism. If you are using this word but assign to this the wrong definition, then you are mistaken. What you are talking about are some vulgars behaviours, I don’t see it fitting with the definition of feminism, hence it’s not feminism, see? Just because it is called so by ill-informed women, doesn’t make it true. Don’t be one of those ill-informed. You would call me crazy if I called myself an actress (definition – is one who portrays a character in a performance) if I didn’t perform in anything – hence I wouldn’t fit in the definition; you wouldn’t agree with me I’m one even though I told you so, now would you? So why are agreeing that those women are feminists when they do not fulfill what the dictionary has to say about being one?

Ash

Most prominent feminist figures don’t even think like that. Most of them are a bunch of misandrists who want to spread their man-hating ideas and special privileges under a movement that claims for “equality” and you want me to judge the movement for the meaning of its name instead of their actions? Wow you have no sense of rational thinking huh? Your examples above are really moronic and your logic is flawed.

This has happened for too long up to a point where they have tainted the true intention of feminism in the first place. As an egalitarian aka humanist I refuse to accept this movement as a solution to gender equality problems because it is a huge part of of the problems to begin with.

Why people who truly believe in equality should be identified as an egalitarian more than as a feminist.
It stands for feminism, masculism, racial equalism, and sexual equalism. So EVERYONE’S EQUAL
regardless of gender, religion, sexuality, and race.

The difference between feminism and egalitarianism are:
Feminism – The ideal of fighting for the rights of women as equal as men but most feminists want more than equality. They want to be above men and want special privileges just for being
women. Focusing on men and women but specifically women like 99% of the time.
Egalitarianism has the upper hand.
Feminism is a bad word to use because it mentions a sex-thus favoritism.
That is sexist. Egalitarian is a neutral word for all people of all types.

What is feminism biggest disadvantage over egalitarianism?
FEMINISM MENTIONS FEMALES ONLY AND FIGHTING EXCLUSIVELY FOR WOMEN. EGALITARIANISM MENTIONS EVERYBODY AND FIGHTING FOR EVERYBODY.

Sebek

Well, why wouldn’t you say all of this in
the first place, instead of just stating that you know what feminism is and
then proving you don’t, when you said that it has changed, which is not true,
because maybe some people took it to another level, but that automatically
means that they no longer fit to the definition, so like I said – they are NOT
feminists, and you made it seem like you are judging this whole movement based
only on those cases. So actually your logic was flawed, but now I see that you
have problems with feminism based on the definition – which I can finally say
is the right argument and a solid reason. I don’t want to change your opinion
by NO MEANS, I just wanted for your opinion to be based on rational and true
examples, and I am beyond happy that you have your own vision for all of this
and it actually makes sense! And you have to excuse my “moronic”
examples, English isn’t my first language and I can not express myself just as
perfectly as I would want to, besides you gave me (wrongly, now I know this) a
reason to believe you are not to be considered the smartest, stating that
despite some people not behaving as the definition says they should behave
being a feminists ARE feminists in your opinion, so I know this example of an
“actress” was very primitive but I think it actually illustrated pretty
well how wrong you were calling someone SOMETHING that does not fit into the definition of this SOMETHING :)

And I really didn’t like your first
paragraph, “Most of them are a bunch of misandrists who want to spread their
man-hating ideas and special privileges under a movement” EXACTLY, they are
doing it under this movement, so they are wrongly calling themselves feminists
(just like this primitive example with an actress, just because they say they are
feminists and then don’t act like ones – are they feminists? No.) “and you want
me to judge the movement for the meaning of its name instead of their actions” WHOSE actions? You just said it yourself that most of them are doing weird things only under this movement, not with the very idea of it, so again, you
are judging the movement based on someone who doesn’t even cooperate with the definition of this movement? See, just don’t ever judge a movement based on people that are not even in this movement (even though they say they are, but they don’t act it). And I liked your further arguments, because they finally were based on the definition itself :) Now I can live the happy ever after knowing that your thinking is (partially) based on legit reasons!

I know, I’m a maniac.

Martine

Yes. They are feminists. Every time you tell people that you are against feminism, they tell you that you don’t understand it. I am AGAINST any action that will make it harder for men to find jobs even if it makes the supposed “earning gap” disappear. There is no earning gap. Women simply prioritize too many things over work. I have hired women and had no end of headaches as they need to stay home every time their kid has the sniffles. Only my personal experience? Yes, it is, and I trust it. Professor Pat O’Brien , a leading feminist is working to make sure no women go to jail, no matter the crimes. And YES, these are feminists. I don’t hear any feminists saying much when a Muslims rape a female reporter. So, yeah, they are selective, but in general the feminist movement is making things worse. Not better. And I do understand.

Martine

No, YOU are trolling. The word is NOT equalism. It is FEM-inism. First of all, WOMEN ARE NOT OPRESSED IN THE WEST. Feminists are turning women against each other. And they know this. Feminists themselves admit already that they do not care about the welfare of the majority of women. Majority of women are in a partnership with a man, and that man’s paycheck is just as important to the family as their own, so they would be worse of if feminists got their way. Feminists have repeatedly said that these women are in league with the patriarchy, and have too much priviledge, and thus their welfare should be discounted. So why would women be feminists, when feminists openly say that they are not looking out for their welfare? They are not interested in what works best for society. They simply want to make things better for themselves. Most of them are single, often gay, and extremely liberal. Most women would not benefit from or gain any freedom from what they want, but they will.

Martine

Then how about this; We believe that there is already complete equality between the genders in the West. I do not believe there is an earning gap that is caused by unfairness. I believe the earning gap is caused by women prioritizing children over work. I do not believe that women should be forced to have a spot in jobs that they are not physically capable of doing( like the lowered standards for firefighters and police cadets) I think those things are wrong. Men and women have different capabilities. Feminists think that men and women should be in the exact same place. I think they should have the same rights, but I do not think they have the same capabilities. And I do not want Feminists to make more laws trying to hamper men simply so women can catch up. It is as illogical as chopping off the feet of faster runners to make the race fair for slow runners. I believe in equality, and that has been reached.

Martine

I notice that you have not said exactly what REAL feminists are working on right now; So what are they doing here in the West that I should be for them. And give a link. I have sen plenty of examples of what feminists have been doing that I disagree with. Patrica O’Brien, feminist leader working on making it so women never go to jail for anything. She is considered by feminists, a leader. Name feminist leaders that do the “right” thing?